Rain, rain and more rain during the rainy season in Panama, and it pours now in October. They say it’s worse in November! This desert Southwest girl is in awe!
I’m sure you’ve been told that it rains a lot in the tropics! Now, I can tell you I have witnessed it. But most people adapt—do your outside business in the sunny beautiful morning and then stay inside in the afternoon and enjoy the rain.
At first, it seemed overwhelming, especially when I witnessed a rainstorm that left 6 ½ inches in two hours on our scouting trip in May!
Because the rain is increasing, we altered our schedule this last week and it worked.
Monday, September 29
In the morning, we drove to David to get more specific furniture: we needed night stands for our bedroom, a table between our recliners and shelves for our kitchen.
But before we left, I had struggled with the name we had of that store— EP Furniture. We had bought Lin’s desk and my file cabinet there and hoped to find what we needed there, but when we went before John, our neighbor, drove us, so we had no idea how to get there. And when his wife went with us last week, we ended up not going there—she wasn’t sure where it was.
So, Lin found a receipt which said, “Econo Precio Furniture,” (Economy Prices Furniture) so when I googled that name, I cheered! I got the directions to the store in David!
We needed a specific size for the night stands because our bedroom is small. It had to be about 16 inches wide only. After extensive searching there, we found our new night stands.
So then we went to the DoIt Center, looking for shelves for the kitchen but we didn’t find anything. Then we went to Conway’s and found this beautiful table.
Our new little car we rented held all of this, but we ended up going home in the rain after lunch at a fonda, Mily’s. A fonda is a inexpensive restaurant, featuring Panamanian food. Wow! The food was delicious!
On the way home, we stopped at a couple shops along the way to check them out.
I ended the day by joining my Colorado writing practice group for the first time since July 14. It was so good be back with my writer friends.
Tuesday, September 30
Last week, we met a couple who were visiting Boquete for the first time with plans to move here. We hooked them up with Jason Lara of Jason Lara Tours, so he showed them around the area on Saturday, like he did for us.
When we first met them, we told them we would take them to the Tuesday Market—helping new people here, a tradition that’s so wonderful of “Passing It On” like our neighbors did for us.
As soon as we got to the Tuesday Market, we started introducing them to people we knew. Lin took them to his favorite stand where he gets a breakfast sandwich. They hadn’t eaten breakfast, so they jumped in.
I left the group and got a thirty-minute massage from Monique. She focused on my right ear—I’ve lost hearing in that ear and my right leg because of the dog attack. I loved it and plan on going to our office for more massages.
The new couple went their own way, so Lin and I shopped around. We bought an Eggplant Parmigiana dish from an Italian vendor who’s a riot. He says he only knows four words, then he easily talks more.
The couple we brought had other plans so we didn’t take them home. So, on the way home, we went to a Garden Center we had passed several times. Lin bought a couple plants.
I messed up and didn’t take my gabapentin, so I slipped into a negative space for the rest of the day. Oh, of course, the rain continued.
Wednesday, October 1
We left Boquete at 7:15 AM and went to David with Ruth and John. They asked me to join them at Immigration Office to help with any translation needs. We talked about what to buy for shelves in the kitchen, and they showed us shelves they had bought at the DoIt Center. We decided they would work, so we added that stop to our game plan for the day to be home before the rain started.
So, we went to Immigration Office. I helped a little with the translation until we found out the clerk spoke English. We waited for a while, and our friends fulfilled the requirements and paid the fee for registering their address.
Our first stop afterwards was PriceMart where I easily bought gabapentin at the pharmacy. We all got items we wanted.
Then we went to the closest DoIt Center, but they didn’t have the two tall shelves we wanted, but they did have a short one, so we bought that one for our bedroom. We will buy another one and use it for our clothes because of the threat of mold in drawers.
So we went to the other bigger DoIt Center, convinced it would be there. They didn’t have any, so we ordered two like the one above but taller and are waiting to hear they have them.
Lin treated us to a coffee and sweets at a coffee shop. We had a relaxing fun time talking and taking in the scene.
It’s raining like crazy right now! It started about 3:45 PM here, and it’s almost 5:00 PM. That’s why we plan inside activities during the rain.
When we got home, we watched a couple episodes of “Sister Boniface” on BritBox. She’s one of our favorites. It was our inside time—check email. I worked on book #2, so I only have the last section to do, and I will be done with the layout!
Thursday, October 2
It’s Thursday, so it’s the Thursday Market. I need to limit my buying to $20 there, because it’s so easy to spend lots more because of all the vendors. It’s the smaller of the two markets, but we’ve become friends with people there.
Lin bought us lunch from a Jamaican man. A couple weeks ago, I bought lunch from them, and it was delicious, so Lin jumped in quickly.
I ended up buying a wooden soap stand for my shower and black bean hummus.
I changed leading my meditation group from Tuesday to Thursday because of the couple we were taking to the Tuesday Market. But this also complicated this day too.
Again, it was an inside afternoon with rain.
Friday, October 3
We relaxed and enjoyed our morning, playing cribbage during breakfast.
I spent the rainy afternoon trying to get airplane tickets for our flights at the end of the month. We have an appointment in Panama City on October 24 to finalize getting our e-Cedula card:
“The ‘E’ in the Cédula indicates ‘Extranjero,’ meaning foreigner, signifying that the holder is a non-Panamanian permanent resident. This card is essential for those who wish to fully immerse themselves in the Panamanian way of life, as it allows for uninterrupted living, working, and even participation in some forms of local governance.”
https://www.ndm.com.pa/permanent-resident-card
We decided I should go back to the states from this time in Panama City and Lin would come back to Boquete, so the tickets were complicated. At first, I tried to do it on the internet, but I couldn’t, so I called the airlines. Finally, the agent gave me a cost, and I realized it was expensive because we delayed so much. Then he asked me to login to my account. Then. . .he gave me an altered price of $700 more because of “my personal information.” I hung up!
Then I went outside and ranted and raved to Lin, our neighbors and our landlord working in the yard!
At 12:45 PM, I left to drive in the rain (a downpour) to go to my knitting group for the first time. I cautiously made my way there. I sat next to a friendly woman and told her about my experience with the airlines the day before.
That’s always a good thing to do here—talk to people about any problems you’re having. She told me she uses a travel agent in Boquete, and by doing that she gets her 25% discount (jubilado discuento) for having a pensionado visa. I gasped! I had completely forgotten about that. She also said if you use an airline, you might get the discount but it’s complicated! What a God Thing this was! She also said book hotels directly in Panama City and you’ll 50% off with this visa! What a gift!
When I got home, our amazing landlords put up a coat rack in the kitchen, Lin’s German cuckoo clock and our drapes in the living room! Oh, what a difference!
The thunder and ran continue here at 5:30 PM—more rain on the way!
Saturday, October 4
Because several places close by the time we get going, and also it rains every afternoon now, we got out earlier and went by the travel agent I learned about, but they are closed on Saturday. Then we went to our favorite restaurant, The Sandwich Shop, for breakfast. I had pancakes with pineapple. I drank strawberry juice and coffee of course—what a delicious breakfast for sure! Lin had strawberry pancakes and papaya juice. These pancakes overflow with fruit!
Again at this place, we met another couple from the United States and hooked up with them. They are fellow New Mexicans. Afterwards we did errands in Boquete and came home.
It was my nephew’s birthday so I called him in California and we caught up. I saw him and his daughters in Colorado at our ranch this summer. I love to connect with him on his birthday and see what’s going on.
Then we spent the rest of the day watching college football and the Philadelphia Philles play the Dodgers.
Sunday, October 5
Lin got up early to watch the game coming from London. I cooked breakfast. Then I went to church online using Facebook Live.
I had already dressed up in my Denver Broncos uniform—Bronco leggings, Peyton Manning jersey, a fluffy orange and blue scarf and my hat. In this outfit and Lin dressed in his Philadelphia Eagles stuff, we went out and showed our landlord, his wife, his daughter and our neighbors. They all joined in the fun of us making a big deal about the Broncos playing the Eagles.
Right after church, the game started, so I brought it up on my desktop to remember how to do it, but first I had to disconnected NordVPN. Lin didn’t do that on the TV, so he couldn’t get it there. So I got it on my laptop, so he could watch it. Eventually the service I subscribed to worked, and we watched the game on our big screen TV.
We really had a calm time watching the game. We each cheered for our time, but Lin didn’t do any of the crazy antics to get me going. And I texted my friend in Albuquerque throughout the game!
And the end: the Broncos beat the unbeaten Super Bowl Champions, the Eagles! Yahoooo!
Tonight we got a warning from our landlord about the volume of the rain, and he and his uncle worked in the field behind us to divert the rain!
Finally,
It rains most afternoons this time of the year. The thunder blasts right now! This desert Southwest girl has had to make a major adjustment, but truthfully I marvel at the volume of rain here, and yearn for it on our ranch in southeastern Colorado, so I’ve adjusted!
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